At the end of June 2016 I took my Swiss wife and daughter to the Portland airport for a three-​month visit with their family in the Old Country. Once that duty was dis­charged, I drove about eight miles south­west to Tasty n Sons on North Wil­liams in the North Portland area.

Tasty n Sons is very popular, so it can often be hard to find a seat. This time I was seated at a bar-​type table just inside the roll-​up-​door at the front of the res­tau­rant. It was a nice place to sit​ ... I enjoyed the fresh air and the front-row-seat view of North Williams Street.

For an establishment in Beervana their beer selection was pretty thin pickin’s. I ended up with a Rainier Beer, which according to the brewer:

My notes from that day read: “it’s pretty weak ... I have to stop ordering wimpy beers ... but the $3 price definitely makes it easier to swallow!”

When my shakshuka arrived I was once again in hog heaven. As before, it con­sist­ed of large chunks of: stewed to­ma­toes, red and green chili peppers (fairly mild), onion, gar­lic, mer­guez sausage (optional), and prob­a­bly some olive oil. Two raw eggs were cracked over the top and then baked until firm, and two large slices of grilled (not toasted) bread were stuck vertically into the dish. It was fair­ly juicy, so the bread was very handy (and tasty) for sopping it all up.

I was enjoying the merguez sausage so much that I asked the waitress where they buy it. She said it was house made​ ... awe­some, but too bad! It was really good ... I wanted to buy some! I’ll have to keep a loo­kout for merguez when I visit any Port­land butchers.

I felt that their shakshuka was definitely worth the $14 price, just as I did the first time. And it was worth a return visit to Tasty n Sons. I hope that you get to go there and try it for yourself sometime.